Working Canditions

[k4kyv]

The past few years I have increasingly heard slopbucketeers use the expression "the working conditions here are..." when describing the operators station set up and NOT the conditions of propagation or one's employment. I have never heard the expression used on AM.

Some have suggested that this is an example of "phony operating" and although it does seem to have that ring to it, I am not so sure. Back in the late 60s at the peak of Cycle 20, I operated a good few times on 10m from East Africa using SSB (I was at the mercy of another operator's station that had no AM capability). I often QSOed in French with French amateurs, and the most commonly used expression for describing the station equipment was "ici les conditions de travail, c'est...." Translating to English,  "The working conditions here are..."  I suspect the expression found its way into English from French-speaking amateurs, perhaps as they worked DX using English, translating the French expression word-for-word. Hearing the expression often enough, English-speaking hams picked it up and began to use it. Contrary to widespread belief, I don't think the expression originated from CB. To my ears it definitely has a "phony" ring to it in English, but sounds perfectly normal and acceptable in French, probably long existing in French-speaking amateur radio jargon.

Similarly, I recall the French expression (on phone) for giving one's name, "Le nom de l'opérateur est..." (The name of the operator is...). Eventually, that worked its way into English CW usage.  To-day, it is very common to hear "OP" followed by the first name, rather than "my name is" or "NAME HR IS..." OP is short and to the point. The first time I ever heard it on CW I immediately knew exactly what the sender meant to say. If I hadn't already been familiar with the French expression it might have taken me a little while to catch on.
 

[KA0HCP]

I can't remember when I first heard the phrase 'working conditions".  However I find it to be quite apt.

There is no question that I first came across "Name hr is" in ARRL study material sometime in the mid to late 1980's.  It struck me as odd phrasing and never came up in contacts before then.

b.

[K1JJ]

heheheh....   Yep, "The working cornditions here are..."  is a very common phrase when working European DX.  The eastern Europeans use it a lot as well as the Italians and many of the other non-speaking-English countries.  Of course most DX speaks English on the air and look for easy phrases.  It has become an automatic riff of recognition. I sometimes axe DX guys what their rig is. They often axe for a repeat. Then I'd axe about their working conditions, getting an immediate response.

When working DX, Huzman and I have some fun and say things like, "The working conditions here are very bad, since I'm still in prison doing hard labor. I'm operating the inmate club station. My parole is coming up soon, so working cornditions will improve then - thank you for axing."      

T

[The Slab Bacon]

On AM I just say: "The call here is KB3AHE, and my name is Frank."
"the rig here is a Homebrew 4-1000 and the receiver dujour is xxxx"
And then carry on the QSO as if they are sitting in the room with me.

Why the hell bother with all of all of that "hamspeak" crap when you are on phone.
Especially if signals are big and the copy is good.

To me, "operating conditions" I would expect to hear something like
"got a 30 over noise level and 40 over static crashes"

[Sam KS2AM]

"Working Conditions" might be OK when communicating with someone who has very limited English since it may be one of few phrases that they understand. Otherwise SSB DX hamspeak tends to get nauseating after a while. ...


QSL!
My name Sam.
Working conditions here, 100 whiskeys and G5RV.
You are five and nine in New Jersey my friend.
Big signal here.
I will say 73 my friend, many calling. Enjoy the pileup.
Microphone to you my friend ...
QSL?


 

[ve6pg]

aside from cw terms, that have crept into the jargon, i dont understand, why some hams speak the way they do...would you, meeting someone in person say " the name be jim ", etc?...

..sk..

[AJ1G]

A CB speak that you hear quite frequently on the higher HF bands lately, usually by new operators form down south is "The personal here is Chris" instead of "The name here is Chris"  or "The handle here is Chris".  "Handle" of course used to be big on CB, where it came from earlier ham use, and I believe, orignally came out of land line  telegraphy, where messages were actually "handled"....I never have heard anyone actually send the word "handle" in lieu of "name" on CW though...no doubt because "name" is shorter to send.

[K5UJ]

I would have thought "working conditions" referred to the guy's shop where he builds stuff.  Maybe it's because that's what's on my mind now.

BTW I looked at the phony op qrz thread and I see gibberish over there I don't understand, that's in a lot of posts.  example:  IB4TL X2?

what the **** does that mean?  are these people hams? 

when I first got back on the air "radio" for rig drove me nuts.  To me a "radio" is the bc rx in the bathroom.  Now I am using it to refer to a rig also, much to my annoyance when I catch myself doing that.

The latest thing to annoy me is calling a feedline jack, usually a UHF female on the back of the rig, the "antenna port."  I think that comes from the computer world.   

Don, you have your balanced antennna port on your 75  m. radio.

[Pete, WA2CWA]

I would have thought "working conditions" referred to the guy's shop where he builds stuff.  Maybe it's because that's what's on my mind now.

BTW I looked at the phony op qrz thread and I see gibberish over there I don't understand, that's in a lot of posts.  example:  IB4TL X2?

what the **** does that mean?  are these people hams? 

IB4TL is an acronym meaning "In Before The Lock." In Don's case, the same type of thread topic was locked once before, hence the "X2".

[k4kyv]

when I first got back on the air "radio" for rig drove me nuts.  To me a "radio" is the bc rx in the bathroom.  Now I am using it to refer to a rig also, much to my annoyance when I catch myself doing that.

The latest thing to annoy me is calling a feedline jack, usually a UHF female on the back of the rig, the "antenna port."  I think that comes from the computer world.  

Don, you have your balanced antennna port on your 75  m. radio.

Ah, you have given me two more items to add to the list.  I'll eventually re-post the complete revised edition once new ideas cease to come in and I can't think of any more myself. The total count right now is exactly two dozen items.

Another one that I just thought of, is when "dot" is used instead of "point" to describe decimal fractions, as for example, the AM calling frequency on 20m is "fourteen dot two-eighty-six" instead of "fourteen point two-eighty-six"

Before I can actually use the new OWL, I have to design and build a new matching network to go between the transmitter(s) and the line, and revise the tuners out in the dawg house for 450Ω (actually 438Ω) balanced input instead of 50Ω unbalanced.

[KM1H]

I run across that "my personal is" crap a lot on 10 and 6 AM and SSB from the no code Techs. My reply is "Only my girl friends know my personal but my name is Carl"

[AJ1G]

Another one that I just thought of, is when "dot" is used instead of "point" to describe decimal fractions, as for example, the AM calling frequency on 20m is "fourteen dot two-eighty-six" instead of "fourteen point two-eighty-six"

The dot usage in that context most probably has evolved from the dot com world of the Internet. 

The military typically uses "decimal" and "tack" as in "fourteen decimal two eight six, or "fourteen tack two eight six".  For some reason tack seems to be common in the Navy when reporting things like compass bearings.

[WA3VJB]

Another one that I just thought of, is when "dot" is used instead of "point" to describe decimal fractions, as for example, the AM calling frequency on 20m is "fourteen dot two-eighty-six" instead of "fourteen point two-eighty-six"

The dot usage in that context most probably has evolved from the dot com world of the Internet.  

The military typically uses "decimal" and "tack" as in "fourteen decimal two eight six, or "fourteen tack two eight six".  For some reason tack seems to be common in the Navy when reporting things like compass bearings.

Yeah Chris, hearing the Coast Guard using "tack" all the time in GPS coordinates.

I just got a visit on board one of their cool little rubber boats.  Excellent ride.

Loc:
38*58.9, 076*20.5

http://boulter.com/gps/?c=38+58.9++-076+20.5#38%2058.9%20%20-076%2020.5

[K2PG]

It is one thing to hear a foreign operator using such broken English, as English is not the world's easiest language to learn. For an American to speak that way is inexcusable. I did encounter the expression "working conditions" on AM a couple of years ago. Someone in W9-land asked me about my working conditions and I replied that I have a decent boss, the pay is mediocre, and my workload varies from day to day.

The best practice on any of our voice modes is to simply speak plain English. If you want to describe your station, just do so. "My name is" sounds better (and much less dorky) than "my first personal is", which totally reeks of CB. And Q signals belong on CW, where they save a lot of time and facilitate communications between operators who speak different languages. But on 'phone, they just sound dorky.

Many foreign operators try to learn English by contacting American, Canadian, and British stations. By speaking horrible, broken English on the air, you are doing them no favors.

[WD8BIL]

K2PG said:

And Q signals belong on CW,...

2 I have no problem with are; You're Q5 here unless it's followed up with, "I missed you name." The second is "QTF Man??"
 

[k4kyv]

Or to say "you're five-nine" but then have to ask for a repeat on everything.  QuaRMtesters are notorious for that nonsense.

I suppose "working conditions" could work its way into amateur radio jargon if enough people started using it after hearing it in DX contacts.  That's the way language works, especially English.  We have adopted a  lot of foreign words and expressions into our language when there was already a perfectly good Anglo-Saxon word.  Some examples: pig/pork, cow/beef.  Notice that "pig and cow" are the rough unrefined word used for farmers tending the live animals while pork and beef are the refined use of the meat served at the tables of the upper crust who could afford to eat butchered meat back in those days.

Another one of my pet peeves is the jargon word "elmer", which sounds kind of dumb or retarded to me, in place of the perfectly good, elegant English word "mentor".

[W2PFY]

The one expression that I hate above all other is "Near Miss" and is used often to describe airplane that almost came in contact with or almost collided with another. People with masters degrees in English think this is perfectly exceptable. To me it make no sense

[KB2WIG]

close proximity


co-conspirator



i really get upset with the above two words they dont  make sence to me like isnt' close and proximity mean the same thing and the co and conspiritor kinda apear redundant so why not like just say conspiritor and the same with close and proximity and i dont' reely get upset like it just be irritating that they like talk that way in the newspaper maybee we need an ap to fix this things JMHO


klc

[k4kyv]

I suppose it could be taken to be an expression of degree. For example, if there were a fire in "proximity" to your house, you might be inconvenienced by the smell of the smoke and the fire engines blocking the street.  If the fire were in "close proximity" to your house, the firefighters would be hosing down your house to prevent the exterior walls from igniting from the heat.

I agree, "co-conspirator" is like "frozen ice", "wet water" or "hot heat".

[KM1H]

Another one of my pet peeves is the jargon word "elmer", which sounds kind of dumb or retarded to me,

 I refuse to have that term associated with me. It reminds me of Elmer Fudd or some bib overall wearing redneck 

[k4kyv]

Or some guy with double-digit IQ sporting horn-rim glasses with coke-bottle lenses.

[ve6pg]

..don..."irregardless"...? ...

..sk..

[W7TFO]

From the Department of Redundancy Department:

>>Hot water heater<<

73DG

[ve6pg]

..that's a good one...at the local beer store.." black round tire gauge"..ok, cant say of the last time, i saw a tire that was neither black, nor round...

..sk..

[w8khk]

How about "This is W6XYZ, for ID".  Why else would someone speak their call?